Kale & Mushroom Pumpkin Pasta

I love to stock up with tons of pumpkin during the fall.  Its not something thats easily available all throughout the year and so I make up for it when October and November roll around.  I probably have about 20 cans right now in my cupboard, uh a little too much?  nah what am I thinking you can never have too much of a good thing, and it dosen't hurt that it's healthy for you.  I usually use pumpkin in sweet dishes but being infected with the sickness and all (common cold) and not having much of a sweet tooth tonight...shocker I know.  I wanted too use up some of those 20 cans of pumpkin and I thought why not make a yummy creamy pumpkin sauce for pasta.  It was really easy and fast to make and you can use it for not only pasta but it would be great over ravioli or perhaps even rice.

Kale & Mushroom Pumpkin Pasta
Oishii Treat Original

Ingredients

10-13 ounce box of penne pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup red onion diced small
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups kale (ribs removed, washed and tear apart into bite sized pieces)
3/4 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
pepper
salt
1 cup white cheddar cheese shredded

Directions

- In a large sauté pan on medium high heat add you butter and let it melt
- Add your diced onion and garlic cooking for 2 minutes
- Add in the sliced mushrooms, stir around and cook for another 2 minutes
- Add in your kale stirring for about 2 minutes until in starts to wilt
- In a large pot of boiling water cook your pasta according to package directions
- In the large pan mix in the pumpkin, broth, half and half, basil and parsley. stir until completely combined
- Reduce the heat to medium low and cook the sauce while the pasta is cooking, about 10 minutes.
- Drain your past and add it back to the pot, add in your sauce and 1/2 cup of your shredded cheese and mix well.
- serve it up and if you like top with a little more cheese

I also linked up to a few new link parties over at Seven Alive, Mom on Time Out, Practically Functional, Two Yellow Birds Decor, Live Laugh

Artichoke, Kale and Cheddar Hot Pockets for 2

I love hot pockets but its hard to find vegetarian ones at the grocery store.  Most of the time everything has chicken or pepperoni in it.
      So what do vegetarians do when we want a traditional meaty comfort food?  We come up with a homemade version :)  It was a lot of fun coming up with different flavor combinations when making these homemade hot pockets.  I finally decided on white sauce, kale and artichoke that baked beautifully and was quite tasty! What flavor combo would you try?

Artichoke, Kale and Cheddar Hot Pockets for 2
Oishii Treats Original
Yields: 2

Time:
Prep 20 Min
Cook 20 min

Ingredients

1 can Pillsbury seamless dough sheet
1 cup Kale (washed and chopped roughly)
4 Artichoke Hearts (I bought canned artichoke, drained them of their water and chopped them)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup half/half
1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
dash of pepper
dash of garlic salt
1 egg white

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Place a small saute pan on medium high heat and spray with cooking spray
- Add you chopped artichokes and kale to the pan and saute for about 5-6 minutes or until kale is wilted sprinkle with a little garlic salt. Set aside
- In a small sauce pan on medium high heat melt your butter and add the flour, stir until completly combined.
- Pour in your half/half and whisk until thicken about 4 minutes.  add 1/2 cup of your shredded cheese, whisk until completely melted and combined.  You should have a nice thick white sauce.
- Roll out your dough sheet on too parchment paper- I had to re roll mine due to the packaging ripping the dough
- Evenly divide the dough into 4 equal rectangles

- Add about 3 tablespoons of the white sauce to the middle of 2 rectangles (keep the filling in the middle away from the edges so it can seal well), add 2-3 tablespoons of your artichoke and kale mixture, top with some extra cheddar cheese.

- Take your other rectangle half and do a light egg white wash on the seams of the dough, cover your filling and sealing the sides by using a fork to crimp down the edges. do a light egg white wash on the top of the dough and sprinkle with some garlic salt. transfer the parchment paper with your pockets onto a cookie sheet and Bake for 20 minutes .